Citi Forward Card Review

Ever since the first credit card was introduced more than 50 years ago, the debate has raged on about whether or not they hurt or help consumers.   A lot of the economic mess I read about today has to do with Americans in massive amounts of debt; due largely in part because of home and credit card debt.  But even though a good amount of credit card holders don’t use their cards responsibly, that does not mean that credit cards are evil.  In fact, I would argue there’s one card on the market today that does it’s best to reward and teach consumers about the pitfalls of using credit poorly, and that card is the Citi Forward® Card.

The Citi Forward card opens up by offering a limited time bonus of 10,000 ThankYou points for all new cardholders.  9,000 of those points come after spending $650 in the first three months and the other thousand are added when you sign up for paperless statements.  10,000 ThankYou points can be redeemed for $100 in gift cards or varying amounts of cash and travel rewards, so even though it’s not as massive as some other credit cards out there, it’s a good start.

The big draws on this credit card comes for a variety of  reasons.  First and foremost, cardholders of the Citi Forward Card can reduce their APR by 2%, simply by staying within their credit limit and paying on time each month.  A 0.25% APR reduction occurs each time your account stays within good standing for three consecutive months, so after 24 months, the full 2% drop can occur.

The Citi Forward® Card also includes a rewards program, that gives out ThankYou points in the following amounts:

• Earn 5 ThankYou Points for every $1 spent at restaurants and on books, movies and music
• Earn 1 ThankYou point for every $1 you spend on all other purchases
• Earn up to 1,200 bonus points for paying on time and staying under your credit limit (every year, 100 a month increments)

The purchase APR on the Citi Forward Card is 12.99% – 22.99% variable but before that kicks in, all cardholders will receive a 0% intro APR on purchases for 7 months and on balance transfers for 12 months.  There is no annual fee to own the Citi Forward Card but the $100 gift card bonus is set to expire at the end of November so act fast if you have the good (not excellent) credit required to obtain this card.

• Visit the secure application page for the Citi Forward® Card.